zimmermann



3 Shasta-Sheet 1 w a W 7 2 m A IANUFAC'IURING QUICK TRAVERSE SHAPER Original Filed Feb. 9, 1926 avwento'z w. F. IMMERIV IANN Aug. 27, 1929. z r "ANUFACTURING QUICK TRAVERSE SHAPER 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Feb. 9, l926- L l -1: I.

" awumtoi 3351 fl t tome Reissued Aug. 27, 1929.

UNITED STAT- s PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIA zintmnmvmnnor MAILBWOOD, New JERSEY, Assrenon 'ro GOULD & nnnnnannr, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION on NEW JERSEY.

MANUFACTURING enroxnienvnnsn sHAPEns.

,Ori'ginal No. 1,615,185, dated January 18, 1927,.Se1flia1 No. 87,068, filed February 9, 1926. Application for reissue filed January 16,

All classes and sorts of machines utilizing power for tooling metal are commonly referred to under th'emiscellaneous title of machine-tools and this invention is devoted-t0 a newl development in a characteristic class identified ina distinctive sense by the term shaper. Those shapers, as a class, have re mained what may be called tool-room machines and this invention seeks to develop a. species that may appropriately become known as a manufacturing type by. i eason of being suitable for quantity production where the time consumed in successively replacing the work-blanks mustbe reduced to a minimum.

A so-called shaper differs in various essential principles from other types of. ma-' chine-tools and its development into a man ufacturing type of shaper accordingly presents new problems from an improvers a complex [of the work during any cutting planer along standpoint. For example, in. a miller, the tool and the workibothmove during the cutting stroke, while in a planerthe work alone moves to perform each cutting stroke and the tool is stationary. But in a shaper, the cutting stroke is performed by holding the work stationary and horizontally advancing the tool in a path parallel with'the surface of the work-support. In the miller, the feed is a and it consists in a uniform progression of both the work (a translation) and the tool (a rotation) during and throughout the cutting operation; In a planer, the feed is accomplished in a stilldiiferent way, i. e. by progressively side-shifting the tool, and the tool is held stationary and the work is advanced to accomplish the cutting strokes. In the shaper, however,-there is no movement stroke and "the feed is an intermittent side-shift of the work to an extent sufficient to providethe desired width of cut for each stroke of the tool.

To economize time, milling machines now provide means for accelerating the travel of the work; but habitually in the same path or line in which it advances during the cutting operation. This is the so-called quicktraverse and some analogy is perhaps found in the periodic quick-return of the work in a the identical path of its ad vance against the stationary tool during the cuttingloperation. But in noshaper is there any power quick-traverse for the work; the only rapid power movement being in the nature of a quick-return of thetool-c'arrying 1929. Serial No. 332,984.

ram along the identical path of its cutting stroke. This periodic tool-return, however, had nothing to do with facilitating work-replacement'for in the shaper the table was progressively advanced after each cutting stroke until the work-blank had been completely machined whereupon it alwayshad to be manually brought to an initial feeding position before a newblank could be inserted and there was no means for accomplishing this occasional blank-replacing shift of the table either rapidly or by power.

The previous user of a shaper was thus obliged to expend both time and manual effort in screwing back the table preparatory to restarting the machine for removing the next layer of the work (where two or more successive depths of out had to be taken) or for bringing the table into position to receive a new piece of work. This labor and undue loss of time, while not so material in the toolroom, became a consequential item of expense in the shop and, oftentimes, a prohibition against the use of a shaper for quantityproduction. Towards" creating a truly manufacturing shaper, it is now proposed to incorporate improvements, involving a reorganization of the by such movements may be performed by power instead, of by hand, and at a' rate much quicker than manually, and through a facile control for very readily substituting the power quick-traverse for the regular slow from the main-line transmission to the cross,

rail and thenceto the table will have the ultimate duel function of propelling the table either with a slow intermittent or with a fast continuous movement. In making this reorganization, it :is proposed to incorporate, at a suitable station, a compact conversion mech- I anism combined with amanual shift whereby the power from a step-by-step feed toa rapid-traverse; thereby augmentingthecap acities of machine without materially increasing "its number of elements. y I a This will become manifestby reference to transmission system, wheremaybe optionally transformed the drawings in which Fig. 1 represents a side-elevation; Fig. 2 a plan view partly in section; Fig. 3 a front-elevation; and Fig. 4 a development of an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

The ultimate power-line or auxlhary transmission for propelling the table transversely to the horizontally-acting ram s, 1n this instance, represented as a shaft 00 ournaled in the cross-rail D and having threads y engaging a nut z affixed to the table E for propelling it as stated. This ultimate transmission 00 :1 z derives its motion from the mainline through transnnssion elements const1 tuting direction reversmg means, shift means, a fast-running branch-line transmission and an intermittent motion transmission.

The fast-running branch is here instanced as comprising a pulley Q, afiixed to one of the elements (the shaft 6) of the main-line so as to be driven by the power whenever the machine is running. The terminal element of this quick-traverse transmission may be regarded as the pulley sand the mtervenmg portion of this transmission 1s here repre sented in elemental form as a belt R which is here shown as crossed to turn the pulley S in the same direction as the ratchet wheel 2 for the feed.

The shift mechanism here takes the form of a shaft 14 appropriately journaled, 1n th s example in the cross-rail, and this shaft is driven by clutch means which enable it to be connected with either the fast or the slow transmission. This is done in an appropriate manner as, for example, by a clutch t at one end and a clutch t at its other; the latter being adapted to engage the terminal element 5 of the slow motion transmission. A simple mode of accomplishingthe one engagement or the other 1s to shift the shaft axially by actuating a sh1ft control lever 1 which operates a spool 52 on sa1d shaft Thus by shifting the shaft u 111 one dlrectlon, the clutch 6 will engage the pulley S and the shaft will transmit motion used for the rapid traverse of the table. v

This shift mechanism is preferably 1n serial relation with a motion-reverser which may be regarded as a gear V shiftable to engage either the direct-drive gear W or the intermediate reverse-drive gear V; each of these gears being, when thus engaged, elements for transmitting the quick-traverse or the slow feed motion to the screw shaft 00. The shifting of the direction-changing gear V is done by a hand lever 3 controlling the spool 4:.

A tool-head G is so mounted 011 the overhanging extremity of the ram B as to admit of being bodily moved (as by means of a screw 0) in a direction. at right angles to the strokepath of the ram; thereby enabling the tool C to be adjusted towards the work-plece E on the underlying table E to cause the tool to remove a predetermined depth of cut at each of its reciprocations until a horizontal layer of given depth has been taken off the work. An lmportant and essential relation of this lnvention .is that the bodily advance of the tool in all of its cutting'strokes is confined to a narrow path parallel with said layer and that, likewise, both the intermittent feed and the power quick-traverse operate parallel wlth said layer but always confined to a direc tlon at right angles to said path. This will now be made more manifest by outlining certain structural characteristics.

The body-casing A has a vertical slide-way A" on its front face and a horizontal slideway A on its top face; these two slideways being in the same general vertical plane so that they converge towards the upper front edge of the main frame. The cross rail D is adjustable along the vertical slide-way but is elongated transversely thereto and this cross-rail always underlies the ram B which continuously reciprocates in parallelism with the horizontal work-supporting surface E of a table E which slides, however, along horizontal ways D extending longitudinally wlththe cross rail D and hence at right angles with the overlying horizontal path of the reclprocating cutting tool.

The main line transmission is located within the body casting A, and comprises the train of elements 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 which, being con ventional may be briefly described. The prime mover or main pulley 5 acts through a clutch 56 controlled by lever L to drive the shaft 6; the motion of which flows through change gears 7 and 8 and thus drives the shaft 9 and pinion 10. The latter drives the gear 11 which in turn drives a pinion 12 meshing with the bull-gear 13. A pivot 14 (adjustable radially 011 the bull-gear) rides in a slot 15 of the master-lever 16 which, at its upper end, operates a pin 17 for reciprocating the ram B through an adjustable block 18. By means of the hand lever 60 and the screw 6, that block may be clamped against the shoulderc of the ram to regulate the extent of over-hang of the ram required by the particular work to be machined, The mechanism thus provides adjustments for varying (1) the frequency of the strokes of the ram, (2) the length of the stroke and (3) the over-hang of the rain, and since the quick traverse motion is derived from a point on the main line between the master clutch and the change gears for the bull-gear, the quick-traverse has a constant rate and is always available so long as the master clutch has set the machine in operation.

The slow motion transmission is here represented as a train of elements, it, i, j, is, Z,

an appropriate element of the main line transmission within the body casting; the junction element being here taken as the hub h of the bull-gear 13. on the end of the hub is a plate 2' which, through a suitable connection 7' revolves an eccentric is for oscillating a link Z whereby a rocker m pivoted to the body casting will be oscillated regularly. This rocker has a radial guide in the form of a screw n whereby a pivot 0 may be set at adjustable distances from the axis of the rocker. This adjustment is made by manually turning the knurled knob N which operates the screws n to vary the length of the arc of swing of the aforesaid pivot 0 and hence the length of each-stroke of the intermittent motion extensible link composed of the two connected parts p and p. This link in turn oscillates a rocker g pivoted loosely about the shaftu in the cross-rail. This rocker vibrates a pawl r through an arc the length of which, of course, is determined by the stroke of the extensible link; and this pawl in turn intermittently advances the ratchet wheel 8 so that, when the latter is engaged by the clutch t, the intermittent slow feed will be transmitted to the table as previously explained.

By tracing the flow of motion from the main line transmission to the junction element (the shaft a) of the quick traverse and the slow feed branch line transmissions, it will be seen that the direction of propulsion of the table will be unchanged by shifting the rate control lever 1, andlikewise the rate of propulsion will be unchanged by operating the direction control lever 23. These levers therefore afford a manual control whereby the table may be slowly fed and quickly traversed in the same direction or may be quickly traversed in a direction contrary to that of the feed; depending upon the manner of manipulating the control means. i

Having thus revealed this invention, I claim as new and desire to secure the following combinations and, elements, or equivalents thereof, by Letters Patent of the United States A quick-traverse heavy duty shaper for production manufacturing, combining a body casting having a vertical front slideway and a horizontal top-slide; a transverse cross-rail vertically adjustable; a table slidable on said cross-rail transversely to said vertical slide-way and having a horizontal work-supporting surface; an auxiliary table propelling transmission; a horizontal ram overhanging said table; a main line transmission leading to said ram for periodically reciprocating it in said top-slide slowly to and rapidly fro along a fixed path parallel with but above said work-supporting surface; a tool-head on the overhanging extremity of said ram and ad ustable in a plane perpendicular to the path of said ram to detraversing said table along said cross rail transversely to said path; a motion reverser located at the cross-rail and common to both of said last mentioned transmissions; a direction-control lever for operating said common motion reverser; and a manual control for said shift mechanism for causing either the intermittent or the quick-traverse means to propel said table by power.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

WILLIAM F. ZIMMERMANN. 

